The World Keeps Turning
by WannabeMerman
Summary: Starting two weeks after 'Decision Time' and going on from there, the continued adventures of three young mermaids and their merman friend. Will be AU as of start of season 2. Disclaimer: I do not own Mako Mermaids.
1. I'm a Mermaid

**I. I'm a Mermaid**

David walked out of the café, and saw Sirena standing on the jetty. Personally, he thought Sirena was both the prettiest girl he had ever met, and the nicest. He felt incredibly lucky that she felt a similar way about him.

She glanced around quickly, completely missing David. He was about to call out to her when she took two steps and dived into the water. _"She was still wearing all of her clothes,"_ David thought. _"What's going on?"_

He waited for her to come back up, so he could ask her about it. Ten seconds. Twenty seconds. Thirty seconds. _"Something's happened to her,"_ he thought. He sprinted down the jetty and dived in himself, desperate to save her.

The water was empty. No Sirena, no blood or anything. Just a long trail of bubbles leading out into the ocean.

The next morning, when Sirena came in for their music rehearsal, David decided to ask her what happened. He wasn't sure she would be there, given how she had suddenly disappeared, but she walked in the door right on time.

Sirena was an excellent singer, and her songs were incredible as well. He didn't think she had written them, but he had never heard them anywhere else. Her choice of topics was slightly confusing to him, many of her songs seemed to feature lyrics about the sea (not a bad choice for singing at a café named after the ocean) or the moon (which just seemed random), but he didn't really mind. He just liked the way she seemed so happy while singing.

But today he had a question to ask. "What happened yesterday Sirena?"

"What do you mean?"

"I was closing up the café yesterday. I saw you on the jetty."

Sirena suddenly looked nervous.

David continued, "You jumped into the water and didn't come back up; I thought you were in trouble, so I dived in, and you were gone. What happened?"

Sirena's expression had changed from nervous to guilty. "I... I can't tell you," she said quietly.

"Why?" David was worried about Sirena. He knew that she and her sisters had a few quirks: their disappearance from the Halloween party, Sirena suddenly saying she was leaving, then not going, but he had no clue what Sirena should feel so guilty about keeping from him. He just wanted her to like him and trust him.

"I... I... I just can't." Sirena appeared to be almost on the edge of tears.

David decided not to push any further. She clearly wanted to tell him something, but for whatever reason was unable to. He would let her tell him in her own time. Even if that was never, he would rather she be happy than know whatever it was she was hiding. "OK. I won't ask any more, but if you need to talk, I'm here."

Sirena's look of relief was clear.

"So what do you want to practice first?"

Nixie walked into Rita's grotto to find Sirena crying. "Sirena? What's wrong?"

Sirena looked up, seemingly debating whether or not to say anything. Finally she said something too quiet for Nixie to hear.

"What was that?"

"I want to tell David."

"Tell him what?"

"Everything!" Sirena practically shouted. "I just feel so bad lying to him. I think he already suspects something after he saw me disappear into the sea yesterday."

"That's not something you can just do. When were you going to tell the rest of us about this?"

Sirena looked at the floor. "I was trying to work up the courage. I didn't know how you'd react."

"If it helps, I think David could handle it, but we really need to discuss this with Lyla and Zac."

"I know. I'm just worried about what they'll say. Where are they, anyway?"

"Last I heard they were going for a swim. We'll probably find them near the pool."

Lyla and Zac saw the two trails of bubbles leading towards the moon pool and followed them in. As expected, Sirena and Nixie were in there.

"You two came in here in a hurry," Zac said.

"We didn't know where you were," Nixie replied. "It seemed like the easiest way to catch your attention."

"Ah. So you wanted to talk to us, then?"

"We needed the whole group, but I should probably let Sirena explain." Nixie looked across at Sirena.

Sirena seemed to hesitate before speaking. "I want to tell David the truth. All of it."

"What brought this on?" Lyla asked.

"He nearly caught me yesterday. He doesn't know what's going on, but he suspects something. I can't keep lying to him."

Nixie spoke up at this point. "If I was going to trust any land-person it would be David, especially when it comes to Sirena, but this has to be a decision we all agree on."

"Zac, you've known him longest," Lyla said. "What do you think?"

Zac thought for a moment before answering. "David's probably the most trustworthy guy I know. I think he could probably handle it."

Lyla had the final vote. "I don't know him as well as Sirena and Zac, but if I had to guess, I'd say we can trust him."

"Then it's decided," Nixie said. "We all think David can be trusted with the secret. But if we tell him, I'd want it to be somewhere nobody else can hear."

"How about on the island?" Zac suggested.

"That could work," Lyla said. "If we keep him on the beach and away from any sensitive areas like the land entrance it's a quiet enough place, and well within our territory."

Sirena's smile was almost dazzling. "I'll invite him to a picnic on the beach tomorrow. I can ask him now before the café closes." She ducked under the water and swam out through the underwater entrance.

David had left Carly in charge of the café, and borrowed his brother's boat to go out to Mako. His brother seemed happy that he was finally doing something more than singing with the girl he was clearly head over heels for.

He was half way there when a pair of dolphins performed massive leaps right next to the boat. He was amazed, not knowing that Sirena had found them and asked them to do it earlier that day.

He had been happy to go for a picnic with Sirena, although he did find the choice of location a bit odd, as well as the fact that she had clearly had a few nerves about asking him. He wondered if the nerves were related to the secret she couldn't tell him; it was certainly a similar reaction, albeit on a much smaller scale. Maybe she had decided to tell him.

As he neared the shore, he saw Sirena standing next to an already-set-up picnic.

"Hi!" she called cheerily.

"Hey," he replied. He motioned towards the picnic. "How long have you been here?"

"A little while," she replied. "I always end up arriving early when I'm nervous about something."

"Nervous? Why?" he asked. He had already seen she was nervous, but at least now he could find out why.

Sirena looked at the ground. "I got permission from the others to tell you the secret, as long as you swear not to tell anyone. I just don't want this to change how you see me."

"I'm sure nothing you say could change how I feel, but whatever it is, I won't tell. I just couldn't do that to you."

Sirena smiled nervously. "I just hope you feel the same after hearing it."

"What secret could possibly be so big that you think I won't like you for it?"

"Well, um... I never thought I'd ever tell this to a land-person, but here goes." She took a deep breath. "I'm a mermaid."

"What?"

"I'm a mermaid."

"That can't be right."

"I can prove it if you want." Sirena took a few steps down the beach until she was in the water. "All it takes is water."

David stared as his girlfriend turned into water for a second, then fell over. There was no mistaking the fact that she now had a tail. "But... But... How?" he stammered, running over to her.

"I've always been like this. Well, not exactly like this, I used not to get legs. Before we were banished."

"Banished?"

"The pod banished us for making a huge mistake. They left the island, and us, behind because they were afraid of the results."

"Us? Wait, you don't mean Lyla and Nixie do you?"

"That's them. Remember that time your brother chased that dolphin?"

David groaned; his brother could be such an idiot sometimes. "How could I forget?"

"He was actually chasing Nixie; she was invisible under the jetty."

"Invisible?"

Sirena raised a hand and twisted it quickly downwards, clenching a fist... and disappeared. When she appeared again, David was speechless, but he recovered after a few seconds.

"I have to ask. What did you do to get banished?"

"We were supposed to protect the island from land-people. A couple of land-boys made it past us to the island, and one of them was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was turned into a merman, and the pod fled. Mermaids don't really get along with mermen. We went on land to try to change him back."

"And did you?"

"Nothing worked. When I thought I was leaving? That was just before we made our last attempt; it didn't work. We made friends with him eventually." She paused before adding sadly, "We still can't contact the pod to bring them back though. I don't even know if they would."

"Who was it?"

"Guess," Sirena said playfully. "I'll give you a clue: we really like seafood."

Realisation dawned on his face. "Zac."

Sirena nodded. "Yes. It was his camping trip with Cam." She shuddered. "So glad they aren't friends any more."

"What happened between those two? They used to be together all the time, now they look like they want to hit each other."

"Cam got hold of an old merman weapon and tried to destroy the source of our power. Nearly succeeded too. Zac stopped him at the last minute. That's what finally got Nixie to trust him."

"Cam tried to hurt you?" Now that he had got over the shock of discovering his girlfriend wasn't human, he was able to process what she was saying, but the fact that someone he had considered a friend had tried to hurt Sirena... He was going to have words with Cam.

"And he lost almost all his friends over it," she replied. "Zac, Evie. Even Nixie had thought he was her friend, and it takes a lot for her to trust someone."

"Sounds like he got what he deserved."

Sirena had never seen David so angry. She understood – she felt the same when it came to Cam – but it still came as a surprise to her that he would get so angry over someone trying to hurt her. She realised right then that she had made the right choice in telling him; he still cared about her.

"Mm," she agreed, before realising she was still in her tail. "Would you mind giving me a hand out of the water?"

David reached down to help her back onto the beach, and once she was dry again they went back up the beach to have their picnic.

Sirena was happy. Everything would be OK.


	2. Confrontations

**II. Confrontations**

The next morning, Cam walked into the Ocean Café as usual. "Hi David."

"Hello... Cam," David replied icily.

Cam turned to Carly, who was clearing a nearby table. "What's up with him?"

"Don't know. He had lunch with Sirena out at Mako yesterday, and since he got back he's seemed angry with you. I've never seen him like this."

"Sirena? At Mako?"

Carly nodded.

"Son of a..." Cam stopped himself. "She told him."

"Told him what?"

"Er... nothing. Just a little... disagreement between me and her... family."

"A 'little' disagreement?" Carly asked incredulously. "Must have been fairly major to get him this riled up; David's the most forgiving guy I know. Wait. This doesn't have anything to do with what's going on between you and Zac does it?"

"Actually, it does. He took their side. He chose three girls he's only known for a few months, and who spent the first two months lying to him, and principal Santos, over his best friend."

"Maybe he was just doing what he thought was right."

"Right? That's what everyone else said. They were just happy he was on their side. Now he won't apologise since he's gone all righteous on me, and he won't forgive me for taking the other side either. I was just doing what _I_ thought was right."

"Mind if I ask what this 'disagreement was about?"

"Probably best that you don't know. Zac and the girls already want to kill me; I'd rather not give them another reason."

"Well good luck with that," said Carly, before going back to her work.

* * *

Zac was swimming, not that that was unusual. He loved it down amongst the reefs near Mako. The fact that the sharks also liked it here wasn't an issue: they couldn't swim anywhere near as fast as he could.

The shapes made by the coral were just as wonderful as they always were, and Zac was about to investigate a small hole in one of the formations when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He glanced over quickly, before his mind processed what he had just seen. He looked again and it was gone.

Zac moved upwards, and peered over the top of the formation. He saw what he was looking for a hundred metres away, and immediately swam off at top speed to find the girls.

Five minutes later, he shot into the pool in Rita's grotto. "Guys! We've got trouble!" he yelled.

Lyla and Sirena came rushing down the stairs, closely followed by Nixie, with Rita bringing up the rear.

"What's wrong, Zac?" Lyla asked.

"Merman. Out by Mako," Zac said breathlessly. "Looked like he was looking for something."

Sirena looked worried. "But the only thing a merman might want around Mako is..."

"The trident," Nixie finished.

Rita looked at her watch. "I have to get to school. The rest of you need to find out what he wants. Zac, I'll speak to your teachers and get you excused from classes for today; you're the only one he's likely to talk to. Girls, you go with him in case things go badly. Stay out of sight unless Zac needs help; he probably won't take kindly to three mermaids showing up."

* * *

It took them ten minutes to get back to where Zac had been and locate the merman. Zac swam around the other side of a coral formation to get ahead of him and placed himself a short way in front of him to get his attention. The girls stayed behind him and watched from behind a small outcrop.

The merman froze when he saw him. He looked Zac over and pointed upwards.

They both swam up and broke the surface a couple of metres apart.

"Who are you?" Zac asked. "What are you doing here?"

The merman, who was about Zac's age, and had short, reddish-brown hair, looked rather taken aback by Zac's aggressive stance. "I'm Michael. And you are?"

"Zac."

"As for what I'm doing here, I heard a rumour that the mermaids all left this part of the ocean. The trident's supposed to be around here somewhere, and if there's no one defending it then... shouldn't be too hard to get hold of, should it. I assume you had the same thought."

Zac thought for a moment before answering. He didn't want to make it too obvious that he was on the other side. "Your rumour: not quite true. There are still a few left on the mermaids' side, and they aren't giving up without a fight. I actually had the trident for a short while. I had it, but I didn't get a chance to use it before they took it off me." All of it was technically true, but he wasn't telling Michael that he had found it again and given it up.

"So where is it now?"

"I know exactly where it is. Lying on the rocks next to the moon pool, smashed into several pieces. It's dead."

"But... no mermaid would be able to even damage it. It was designed to resist their magic. The only way it could be broken is if..." Michael's eyes narrowed. "If they had a merman on their side. And the only other merman around here is you."

Zac moved a couple of metres backwards, uncomfortable with how this conversation was going.

"You're a traitor. They hunted us to near extinction and you're working with them?"

"So, you're just a guy fighting for a side without ever questioning why."

"What?"

Zac thought he might have found the weak point in Michael's armour with his last comment, and decided to press the advantage. "You've been brought up to hate mermaids. Why?"

"Because they killed most of us off, of course. Do I need any more reasons?"

"And why did they do that?"

"How should I know? They just did."

"What? You think they all just woke up one morning, after years of living together, and decided they didn't like us and wanted to kill us?

"You have a better explanation?" Michael was becoming very defensive.

"We started this war. The trident? That's what started all of this. It wasn't made for revenge; it was supposed to be a deadly first strike. We wanted more power, and we knew the mermaids would try to stop us, so we tried to take them out. Our kinds have been killing each other for centuries over something we started, and now most of us don't even remember why? It's ridiculous."

Michael looked like someone had short circuited his brain. "But... I... No..."

Zac sensed an opportunity to get him to leave. "How about you go somewhere else to think about what I've said, and come back if you're ready to listen."

For a moment he thought Michael would try to argue, but the other merman was clearly conflicted. He paused for a few moments, staring at Zac, before swimming off at high speed.

* * *

"What did you say to him?" Sirena asked.

"From what I could tell, the mermen have forgotten what started this war. I enlightened him and he couldn't take it. I told him to think about what I said and only to come back if he was willing to talk."

"So he might come back?" Lyla asked.

"He could have come back anyway, at least this way he might come back without backup, and willing to hear our side."

"OK. Fine. We know he's out there; we can prepare for if he comes back. Shouldn't you be getting to school?"

Zac smirked. "I seem to remember my principal saying I was excused for the day, and I intend to take full advantage. Anyone up for a swim?"

* * *

David closed his locker to find Cam watching him. He found himself getting angry and tried to calm down, but he struggled. _"How could anyone want to hurt Sirena? Especially one of my friends. So what if she's different, she wouldn't hurt a fly,"_ he thought.

Cam must have seen his reaction, because he smirked, and walked away. That just made David even angrier. He'd never been an angry person, but attacking Sirena was a step too far.

He was about to go over and confront Cam, when Evie walked up to him. "Have you seen Zac? He was meant to meet me ten minutes ago, but he didn't show up."

"He wasn't at the café earlier. Is there anywhere else he's likely to be?"

"Not that I can think of..." she trailed off, before adding quietly to herself, "unless he went swimming."

David's eyes widened momentarily. "I forgot Sirena mentioned you knew."

"Sirena? Wait, she told you?"

"Yesterday."

"So that explains why you looked like you wanted to take Cam's head off."

David scowled. "I just can't believe one of my friends would try to hurt my girlfriend. There's not a mean bone in her body, no matter what else she is."

"I think it was more about Zac than Sirena."

"Zac, who's also a friend of mine. It doesn't change what he did."

"No, it doesn't," Evie agreed, "but I get the feeling that he's enjoying making everyone angry. He probably sees it as some sick form of entertainment. Just ignore him."

"That's easier said than done given how many classes we have together."

"I know, but it's the best way of dealing with him."

* * *

The teacher for Chemistry took the register as usual, but when he reached Zac's name (not very far in with a surname like Blakely) he murmured something about Miss Santos already speaking to him. That was the moment it finally became clear for Evie.

"Of course," she whispered to David. "Why didn't I see it before?"

"See what?" he whispered back, before saying "Here" when his name was called."

"She claims the girls are her nieces, but they're you-know-whats."

"So?"

"Whether or not they're related, she must be one of them. Why else would she be covering for them?"

"Maybe. But so what? She's still the principal."

"I know; it was just a thought. That must be why she got so secretive when I did the article on her."

The teacher started the class at that moment, so the conversation was finished.


	3. Just Passing Through

**III. Just Passing Through**

Marina was a member of the North Atlantic mermaid pod, but she had family and friends in both the South Pacific and Indian Ocean pods.

She had decided to visit them with her baby daughter, and her first stop in the Pacific had been wonderful. She even ran into a couple of old friends she had lost contact with from the Mako pod. When they heard where she was going next, though...

They had warned of a possible merman near Mako; that the pod had fled and wouldn't be returning. They had warned her not to go this way. She hadn't listened. Mermen tended to stay away from mermaid controlled areas, and the few times they had come in contact, it was the merman that had run. Sure, the trident was at Mako, but why would they go for that now after years of steering clear?

The merman would have either found the trident by now or given up searching. There was no way she was going to add more than a thousand miles to her journey to avoid the Mako pod's waters, when the odds were that the danger was gone. Besides, an entire pod ran away from _one_ merman? What sort of cowards were they? Certainly, mermen were dangerous, but it was more than a hundred against one.

Marina was coming to regret her decision after she saw the tell-tale blue tail swimming over the reef. The merman started to turn, and she instinctively ducked into the first hiding place she saw. She hoped she had been quick enough. There was no way she could fight and protect little Mel, and she knew it.

* * *

Several days had passed, and Michael had made no reappearance. They eventually decided he must have gone home when he realised the trident was gone. Not that they weren't still on high alert.

They had all gone swimming on patrols, scanning the reefs for possible enemies. They had often played pranks on each other to pass the time, and Zac himself had caused a couple of false alarms among the girls.

So when, on his evening patrol, he saw a golden tail ducking quickly into a small gap in the rocky shore of Mako as he turned around, he naturally assumed that one of the girls was trying to sneak up on him.

He swam slowly over, hoping to turn the tables on whichever of them it was (probably Lyla from past experience). What he wasn't expecting to see was a mermaid with curly black hair who was, if they aged at the same rate as humans, about thirty and looking terrified. Or the baby mermaid she was holding in her arms.

As they both floated there, shocked, Zac noticed the moon ring on her finger starting to glow. _"Right, merman. Probably not the best first impression."_ He backed away and swam slowly off, making it easy for her to follow if she wanted.

* * *

"_Why isn't he attacking?"_ Marina thought. _"I'm a sitting duck, but he's backing away. One mermaid with a baby to defend can't be any match for him. What's he doing?"_

Curiosity had always been one of Marina's weaknesses. She wanted to know more about this strange merman, who could find a defenceless mermaid and leave her alone. She made sure to stay hidden behind parts of the reef, but she was sure he saw her at least a couple of times. Yet he still did nothing.

She was about to move closer, when a figure with a golden tail, another mermaid, shot out from behind a rock and tackled him around the waist. It seemed that at least one of the local pod hadn't left, and they were fighting this merman.

The mermaid in question (one with long, dirty-blonde hair), however, let him go. He spun, looked at her, and shook his head, smiling. Then he seemed to remember Marina was there, looked around, and motioned the other mermaid to follow him to the surface.

She wished she could hear what they were saying, but to do that she'd have to surface, revealing herself, and she wasn't ready for that, no matter what this other mermaid thought of him.

* * *

"Got you," Lyla laughed as they surfaced.

"Lyla, there was another mermaid down there."

"What? Where?"

After Zac explained what had happened, Lyla ducked under the water and had a good look around. It didn't take her long to spot the face staring at her over one of the coral formations.

* * *

Marina thought about trying to hide, but decided against. Mermaids weren't scared of each other, even if the other in question appeared to be friends with a merman.

The mermaid swam down to her slowly, clearly trying not to scare her, and signed that she should come up to the surface. After a few seconds, she decided to do it. Neither of them had tried to hurt her or Mel, despite the fact that one of them was supposed to be a sworn enemy of her kind.

She surfaced, being careful to put this other mermaid in between her and the merman, but with enough of an angle that she could still see what he was doing.

"Hi, I'm Lyla," the mermaid said. There was a long pause. "And you are..?"

"Marina," she answered, still not completely trusting any mermaid crazy enough to hang around with a merman, "and this is Mel." She glanced down at the baby, who was still sleeping; it was the first time since surfacing that her eyes had left Zac. "Who's he?" she asked.

"Oh, don't worry about Zac; he's harmless."

"A harmless merman? You'll excuse me if I don't take your word for it."

"He left you alone," Lyla replied. "He was going to find me or one of the others to talk to you. He figured that he wasn't the best one to make introductions."

"Others? I heard the local pod fled. From him."

"Yes, well... They left the three of us behind because it was our fault he fell into the pool."

"Fell? Wait, he used to be a land-boy?"

"Yeah. That a problem?"

"No, but it explains why he's willing to leave you alone. I knew there was something different about him," Marina said. She thought for a moment before adding in a whisper, "Does he even know what happened between our kinds?"

"Of course he does," Lyla replied at normal volume.

Marina thought of another question which it would not be good for a merman to hear. Again at a whisper, she asked, "The trident: is it safe?"

Lyla laughed. "Safe? It's in pieces."

"What?"

"Zac smashed it. It doesn't work anymore. Saved the pool in the process."

"He _broke_ the trident?" Marina was suddenly suspicious; this seemed too good to be true. "Prove it."

"Sure, follow me." She turned to Zac, "Zac, go and find Sirena and Nixie."

Marina followed Lyla to an underwater cave. She could feel the magic coming from it. Then she realised where she had felt it before. This must be the Mako pod's moon pool. It was much easier to access (for a mermaid, anyway) than the North Atlantic pod's one. That required dragging yourself out of the water, over rocks, and into a cave, on the west coast of what the land-people called Ireland.

She followed Lyla in and watched as she pulled herself onto the shelf of rock which surrounded the pool.

Lyla picked something up and held it in the air. "How's this for proof?"

"What is that?"

"The moonstone that powered the trident. Here." She threw it to Marina, who caught it one handed, being careful not to wake Mel.

"_This_ powered the trident? It's huge."

"And that's why it was so dangerous. Now it's just a moonstone like any other, just a really big one."

Marina was speechless. A merman had actually destroyed the trident, and judging by where its remains were, someone else had been trying to use it at the time, so Zac had also stopped whoever it was. Then something occurred to her.

"How did he fall in here? There's no land entrance."

"Yeah. That's what we thought. There is one, but it only opens when the pool's active. It came as quite a surprise when he fell."

At that moment, three people swam into the moon pool. One was Zac; the other two were mermaids, one with pale blonde hair, and one with shoulder-length, dark brown.

"Marina, meet Sirena and Nixie. Sirena, Nixie – Marina and her daughter, Mel. Which pod did you say you were from?"

"North Atlantic," Marina replied.

"That's a long way," commented Nixie. "What are you doing around here anyway? I thought everyone was being warned away from Zac."

"I was. I just didn't think he'd still be here. I thought I'd had it when he cornered me."

"You're lucky Zac's not like that," said Sirena.

"I guess." Marina still didn't fully trust Zac, three decades of fearing mermen was a hard habit to break. "Anyway, I was visiting old friends, now I'm heading from the South Pacific pod to the Indian Ocean pod. I decided I wouldn't go the long way around based on a merman I figured was long gone, so I ended up here."

"Well, stay as long as you want," Nixie said. "And perhaps tell the pod it's safe to come back?" she added hopefully.

"Oh," said Zac, "I should probably warn you, there was another merman sniffing around last week, I sent him on his way, but he could come back."

"I wasn't planning to stay long anyway. I was just passing through. Actually, if I want to make my overnight stop I should probably go now. Er... bye." Before anyone could say anything, Marina swam back out of the underwater entrance and out into the open ocean.

* * *

"Do you think she'll tell the pod our message?" Sirena asked the next morning.

"I don't know," replied Lyla. "I hope so."

The previous days events had given all of them hope that the pod might look into returning some time soon, but there was still a lot of progress to be made before that could happen.


	4. Protected

**IV. Protected**

Three days after Marina's visit was the night of the full moon. The four mermaids and Zac were having a strategy meeting in the grotto.

"OK," Rita said. "Zac, the full moon hasn't affected you the last two times, I think you're able to resist it well enough now. That means our main problem is going to be Cam. He hasn't had much contact with any of you lately, so we have no idea of what he might be planning, but if he tries anything it will almost certainly be tonight."

"If the worst comes to the worst we can use my powers and your rings to keep him away, but I'd rather it not come to that," Zac said. "We'll have to have two of us guarding each entrance tonight, but we need a more permanent solution; we don't want to have to keep guarding the land entrance every full moon."

"It would take some insanely powerful magic to keep people out of the tunnel," Nixie said, "and then we'd have to find a way to keep it going."

Sirena's eyes lit up. "The trident," she said happily.

"What's that got to do with it?" asked Lyla.

"The moonstone from the trident could power the magic, and it would be recharged every full moon, so it wouldn't need to be maintained. That's how the trident worked isn't it?"

"That's a good idea Sirena," Rita said, "but would any of you know where to start with enchanting a moonstone? Especially one that could have traces of its previous enchantment on it. We don't want something that only keeps out mermaids, for example."

The girls looked at each other.

"Nope."

"No idea."

"Not a clue."

They all looked at Rita, who groaned. "Normally I wouldn't do this, but since this is so important... Looks like I'm going to Mako tonight."

* * *

Cam watched as the full moon rose. The destruction of the trident had been a setback, but he already had a new plan. He had thought about trying again tonight, but decided against. It would be easier to let them patrol for a few months, think he wasn't coming, and let their guard down. Then he would be able to get in and take the power he wanted.

He just wished he could see all the trouble they were going to right now, to stop an attack which wasn't coming. Sure, he missed having Zac as a friend, but Zac had made his choice, and Cam had made his. There was no going back to that now.

Cam sighed, and sat down on the beach. Three more months ought to do the trick. Three months and the power that should have been his would be in his grasp.

* * *

Rita was nervous about setting foot on Mako. "I've never been here before," she said. "Before I was banished, I hadn't had legs for long, and after... Let's just say the pod wouldn't have been happy to see me."

"Don't worry," Sirena said. "The pod's not here and we've done this plenty of times."

"I know. We were just always told to stay off the island. I guess that was because the trident was hidden here. Which way are we going?"

Sirena and Zac led Rita to the land entrance (after a quick trip to the pool to get the moonstone), while Lyla and Nixie guarded the underwater entrance. They reached the rock face where the door was hidden quickly, wanting to be done before the moon was over the pool.

"So how do we do this?" Zac asked.

"In many ways, enchanting a piece of moonstone is similar to using a moon ring," Rita said. "The key is to have a very clear idea of what you want it to do, and to project that idea into it. We want it to stop people getting into the tunnel, but what we need, if this is to work, is a clear description of how it does that."

Zac then had a thought. "Doesn't it also have to defend itself? There's no point having it block the tunnel if someone walks off with it when it's not active."

"Good point, Zac," Rita said. "The way I see it, we have two options. We can have it project a constant force field around itself and the entrance, or we can set up some sort of detection system and have it push people away when they get too close."

"So which is best?" Sirena asked.

"It depends what sort of power the stone can hold. The constant barrier would be more of a drain on the magic, but the detection system would be harder to set up," Rita explained. "We know it can sustain a detection system for more than a month, it was doing that when it was in the trident, but we don't know if it would be capable of maintaining a strong constant field over that long."

"I say we try the detection system method. It sounds better. I'm assuming there'd be no way to trick it?" Zac said.

"Not that a human like Cam could do," said Rita. "A mermaid or merman might be able to, but it's unlikely. Also, it will completely ignore whoever sets it up, so if all three of us do this, we'll still be able to get in."

"Doesn't that mean we won't be able to test it?" asked Zac.

"We can always get Lyla or Nixie to try to get in," suggested Sirena.

"Shall we get started then?" asked Rita.

"Right," agreed Sirena. She held the moonstone out in front of her, where both Zac and Rita could reach it.

Both of them grabbed on, and they all started concentrating on what they wanted. If anyone went too close to the stone, they were to be pushed back away from it. The stone started to glow in their hands, initially dimly, but slowly reaching the point where it was hard to look at. There was a brilliant flash of light, and the stone fell to the ground.

"Did it work?" Zac asked.

"There's only one way to find out," Rita said. "Sirena, go and get Lyla or Nixie and take their place guarding the pool."

While Sirena was gone, Zac climbed up above the entrance and placed the stone directly above where the opening would be. "About here?" he asked.

"That looks about right," Rita replied. "If we did it right, its range should easily cover the entrance from there."

Five minutes later, Nixie walked out of the forest. "What is it you need me to do?" she asked.

"Try to approach the land entrance," Rita said. "We'll be right behind you to catch you if it works."

"And you can't do this because?"

"We were the ones who enchanted it. It will simply ignore us."

"Great," Nixie muttered sarcastically.

She took three steps forward, getting more nervous each step. Zac and Rita moved into position to catch her. On the fourth step, Nixie was only five metres from the rock which blocked the opening. A blue glow appeared at the top of the outcrop. Nixie took one more step, keeping one eye on the glow, and was suddenly thrown backwards at high speed.

"Oof," grunted both Zac and Rita as Nixie barrelled into them.

"Ugh," said Nixie. "Remind me to never go near here again. On the other hand," she giggled, "I'm kind of looking forward to seeing Cam's face after that happens to him."

Zac laughed at that too.

* * *

The rest of the night passed relatively uneventfully. They were all confused that Cam had made no appearance; between his antics a month ago and his inflammatory attitude since, it made no sense that he would just give up.

They quickly came to the conclusion that he was attempting to wait them out, hoping they would stop bothering with guard duty. They would, but only because they now had a better system in place.

Now that they only had to guard the underwater entrance, they were feeling a lot more confident about their chances of stopping him. Underwater was where those who were already mermaids or mermen had the advantage, especially since that way they could see him coming before he got close.

They were safe for this full moon anyway. The moon had crossed the pool and nothing had gone wrong, so Zac headed home for the night. He had school in the morning.

* * *

_The Next Afternoon_

Cam walked up towards the land entrance. He knew there was no point trying to get in. The pool wasn't active, there was no trident to take, and he didn't have one of those creepy magic rings the girls had. It didn't take a genius to work out that it wasn't worth the attempt.

What he _did_ want to do was see if he could find any clues about how they had guarded it last night. He may have been planning to wait a few months, but going in blind would be stupidity.

The hidden opening was in sight now. He approached carefully, not wanting to disturb any clues he might otherwise miss. He spotted the mark on the ground and smirked. It looked like someone fell over last night, but that didn't really tell him much. Anything interesting would likely be right next to the entrance.

He stepped forward, still keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary, and froze as he saw a blue light appear above the entrance.

"_What on Earth is that?"_ he thought, before it finally clicked. _"Oh."_ He knew where he had seen that light before, it was the same as the trident's stone. Cam was many things, but he wasn't an idiot. He knew exactly how much power the trident had; he had even used it. He knew that the stone was the power source, and it was capable of being very dangerous indeed.

Slowly, being sure not to make any sudden movements, he stepped back. This was going to take some more thought. With an automatic guard on the land entrance, his only option was the underwater one, and that was certain to be guarded.

This was going to need a _lot_ more thought.


End file.
